The 19/5 Agricultural Development Service Cooperative introduces OCOP products to customers.

Pioneering the application of science and technology and the standardisation of production processes, the 19/5 Agricultural Development Service Cooperative now has six products recognised under the OCOP standards. More notably, among them, the “soft-dried plum” has demonstrated outstanding quality and is eligible for submission to the central authorities for consideration, evaluation and recognition as a national five-star OCOP product.

Mai Duc Thinh, Director of the cooperative, said that participation in the OCOP programme has completely transformed the cooperative’s production mindset, shifting from small-scale operations to commodity production with traceability, packaging and labeling.

"To achieve the results we have today, alongside the efforts of our members, the cooperative has always received close support and companionship from local authorities. From technical training and assistance in completing registration documents to creating opportunities for us to participate in trade fairs, product promotion and commercial networking activities, authorities at all levels have helped our products confidently access even the most demanding markets,” he said.

Not only cooperatives, but many farming households in the ward have also boldly changed their mindset and production methods to pursue legitimate prosperity. A typical example is the family of Tran Van Khanh in residential area 68, whose “Khanh Nham orange” has been recognised as a three-star OCOP product. Thanks to a suitable restructuring of crops, his family now earns billions of VND in annual income.

ran Van Khanh of residential area 68, Van Son ward, tends to his orange orchard.

Khanh shared: “In the past, my family mainly grew food crops, but the economic efficiency was not high. After visiting several orange-growing models, in 2010 I began experimenting with 7,000 square metres of orange cultivation. After three years, the trees developed well, suffered little from pests and diseases, and started bearing fruit, so in the following years I expanded the cultivation area.

To date, my family has more than five hectares of orange, producing over 100 tonnes of fruit annually, with an average selling price of more than 30,000 VND (1.14 USD) per kg. In 2025, I received support and guidance in developing a signature product, and the ‘Khanh Nham orange’ was granted three-star OCOP certification.” 

Tending cherry tomato plants at the Dung Tien Agricultural Cooperative in Van Son ward.

Through diligence, creativity and skillfulness, many of the locality’s signature agricultural products have been elevated by cooperatives and producers into distinctive OCOP-branded products. To date, the ward has eight products recognised as three and four-star OCOP items, including honey-dried plum, soft-dried plum, herbal dried plum, plum wine, apricot wine, Truong Ban wine, Khanh Nham orange and cherry tomato.

Each product carries its own story of production, making use of locally available ingredients and applying safe production processes that meet the criteria set out in the OCOP programme’s product evaluation and classification standards.

Tran Quang Hoang, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Van Son ward, said that during the implementation of the OCOP programme, the ward had promoted communication campaigns encouraging enterprises, cooperatives and production households to continuously improve quality and create distinctive value for their products.

At the same time, the ward reviewed outstanding local products and integrated funding from support programmes to help cooperatives register trademarks and product packaging, obtain barcode registration and traceability stamps, and support consultancy costs for preparing dossiers for product evaluation, classification and promotion activities.

These efforts have gradually helped build brands for the locality’s signature agricultural products while transforming agricultural production from small-scale operations into value chain-linked production associated with product sale.

The development of OCOP products has contributed significantly to enhancing the value of agricultural produce and promoting agricultural and rural economic development in an efficient and sustainable direction. Following certification, OCOP products have increased value for producers, strengthened the competitiveness of local agricultural products in the market, and contributed to local socio-economic development.